Ramos, Varane and Pepe, the airtight solution

The chosen line-up in the Real Madrid defence for the encounter against Borussia Dortmund was previously put to the test by José José Mourinho against Athletic de Bilbao. The outcome was magnificent, as the team ran out 3-0 winners and proved it could be solid at the back, which is vitally needed to keep a clean-sheet against the Germans.

Pepe and Raphael Varane will be the centre-back pairing for the clash at the Signal Iduna Park, and Sergio Ramos will occupy the right-back position. Mourinho has been forced to break up the Ramos-Varane partnership, because of injury to Michael Essien. Pepe - who had lost his place in the defence after being injured and also due to Varane's explosion on the scene - is the fortunate player to be drafted into the team.

The trio of Ramos, Pepe and Varane played in both the group matches against Dortmund, but the outcome was somewhat disappointing - defeat in Germany and a draw at the Santiago Bernabéu. However, Mourinho has not been deterred by the two results and believes the games took place at the worst point in the season for Real Madrid – the month of October.

Varane and Pepe have played together four times at the heart of the defence and Ramos has been used at right-back on seven occasions. In these matches the team has conceded just once – when Real beat Deportivo de La Coruña 5-1. 'Los Blancos' kept clean sheets in the other games in which the Portuguese and Frenchman were paired together - Celta de Vigo, Mallorca and Rayo Vallecano.